Vehicle system for navigation and/or driver assistance

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is assistance, safety and navigation technology for vehicles. In particular, the disclosure relates to a vehicle system and a method for controlling the vehicle system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 12/867,606,filed Nov. 4, 2010, which is the U.S. National Phase Application of PCTInternational Application No. PCT/EP2009/051678, filed Feb. 13, 2009,which claims priority to German Patent Application No. DE 10 2008 009463.3, filed Feb. 15, 2008; German Patent Application No. 10 2008 009464.1, filed Feb. 15, 2008; German Patent Application No. 10 2008 010666.6, filed Feb. 22, 2008; and German Patent Application No. 10 2008051 776.3 filed Oct. 15, 2008, the contents of such applications beingincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to assistance, safety and navigation technologyfor vehicles. In particular, the invention relates to a vehicle systemand a method for controlling the vehicle system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Driver assistance systems to assist the driver in driving a vehicle andnavigation systems to guide a driver or a vehicle from a starting pointto a desired destination are already in existence. The course of theroad, signs, etc. in the vehicle's surroundings can be transmitted todriver assistance systems by means of an ADAS horizon (ADAS=AdvancedDriver Assistance System) which is produced by navigation systems. Inthis way, the driver or the driver assistance system can react early todangers or traffic situations ahead.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to improve or extend the functions ofthe aforesaid vehicle systems.

This object is achieved by means of a vehicle system or a method for thecontrol thereof. According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention,a vehicle system is provided which comprises a positioning module fordetermining a current vehicle position on the basis of the output of asatellite signal sensor and at least one surroundings sensor, vehiclesensor and/or transport telematics receiver; an ADAS horizon providerwhich provides an ADAS horizon for driver assistance; a provider unitwhich includes the positioning module and the ADAS horizon provider,wherein the provider unit can be coupled to communicate with anavigation unit and wherein the ADAS horizon provider is designed toprovide the ADAS horizon at a rate exceeding that of the output of thesatellite signal sensor. The ADAS horizon can thus be providedindependently of the update rate of the relevant sensors (e.g. by meansof a Kalman filter) and the updates of the ADAS horizon can therefore beprovided at update rates which are not triggered by a sensor. Satelliteand vehicle sensor signals are fused with surroundings sensor data inthe provider unit, thus enabling the accuracy of the ADAS horizon to beincreased. During this fusion, traffic lane information of asurroundings camera can be used, for example, to obtain a more accurateposition of the vehicle on the road, thus improving the accuracy,reliability, quality and up-to-date status of the ADAS horizon andensuring safer provision of the ADAS horizon.

The words “at least one surroundings sensor, vehicle sensor and/ortransport telematics receiver” in the present description mean that atleast one element from the group consisting of a surroundings sensor, avehicle sensor and a transport telematics receiver is provided. Thepreferred element from the aforesaid group is, in this context, thesurroundings sensor or the surroundings sensors.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a vehicle system is providedwhich furthermore comprises a navigation unit in which a digital map canbe stored. This increases accuracy even further since a digital map isavailable in addition to the sensors.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a vehicle system isconfigured to include a dynamics module which detects dynamic data andupdates relating to variables influencing the ADAS horizon. This alsoincreases the accuracy of the output of the vehicle system, ensuringthat conditions which are subject to daily change, such as trafficcongestions, roadwork sites, etc., are taken into account when producingthe ADAS horizon.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose navigation unit and provider unit are designedsuch that a map extract from the digital map showing the currentsurroundings of the vehicle can be transmitted by the navigation unit tothe provider unit. Thanks to this map extract which is present in theprovider unit, a map extract showing the surroundings of the vehicle isavailable to the provider unit even if the navigation unit fails. Sincea vehicle is often moved on the same routes, for example when driving towork each day, exactly this map portion may be available to the providerunit. In addition, the map portion can be processed more easily andquickly in terms of computing and storage, thus improving theperformance of the provider unit.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose navigation unit and provider unit are designedsuch that a map extract from a digital map showing the currentsurroundings of the vehicle can be transmitted by the navigation unit tothe provider unit, on the basis of the vehicle position which isdetermined by the positioning module. Position determination isconsiderably more precise due to the fact that the navigation unitreceives the vehicle position from the provider unit since vehicle andsurroundings sensors can be taken into account when determining theposition, which would otherwise not be available to the navigation unit.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose provider unit matches the map extract with thecurrent vehicle position which has been determined by the positioningmodule.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose provider unit can be coupled to communicatewith a navigation unit which is located outside the vehicle. Such aconnection to a navigation unit located outside the vehicle enablessensors and devices within the vehicle to be omitted, and large amountsof data are available since a server located outside the vehicle can bedesigned to be very powerful.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which further comprises an automatic emergency callunit which is included in the provider unit. In this way, the time untilhelp arrives in case of a breakdown or an accident can be reduced and itcan be ensured that the relevant services are informed at all.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose provider unit is designed to make the currentvehicle position which has been determined by the positioning moduleavailable for transmission to the navigation unit. If the navigationunit receives the vehicle position from the provider unit, positiondetermination is considerably more precise since vehicle andsurroundings sensors can be taken into account when determining theposition, which would otherwise not be available to the navigation unit.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose navigation unit is a mobile navigation unitwhich is not fixedly connected to the vehicle. Mobile navigation deviceshave the advantage that they can also be used outside the vehicle: forhiking, in private planes and boats. In addition, such navigationdevices can be exchanged quickly and without problems in case oftechnical innovations. If such a mobile navigation device is used in thevehicle, the aforesaid advantages can be combined with the advantages ofmore precise position determination described earlier herein.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose mobile communication unit is designed forwireless communication with the provider unit. This avoids loosening andwear of plug-in connections and is user-friendly.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose navigation unit and provider unit are designedsuch that parts of the map extract can be transmitted in an order ofpriority. In this way, in case of failure of the navigation unit, theprobability that the important map parts have already been transmittedwhen the navigation unit fails can be increased, thus increasing thesafety of the vehicle system.

Advantageously, the order of priority depends on a distance of the partof the map extract from the current vehicle position, so that closerparts can be transmitted first.

In addition or as an alternative, the order of priority may depend on aprobability of a further course of travel, so that parts of the mapextract which are more likely to be travelled can be transmitted first.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose navigation unit comprises an additionalprovider unit comprising an ADAS horizon provider of its own whichprovides an ADAS horizon for driver assistance. This has the advantagethat the information available is redundant.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose navigation unit is designed to communicate withan ADAS horizon provider which is located externally of the vehicle andthe navigation unit and provides an ADAS horizon for driver assistance.This connection to an ADAS horizon provider located outside the vehicleenables sensors and devices within the vehicle to be omitted, and largeamounts of data are available since a server located outside the vehiclecan be designed to be very powerful.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose digital map can be authenticated usingcryptographic methods.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose digital map cannot be used by the vehiclesystem until a check phase has been completed during which the digitalmap can be authenticated for a certain period of time by means of acomparison with surroundings and/or vehicle sensors. This ensures thatno incorrect or obsolete map material is used.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided in which several navigation units can be coupled tothe provider unit and the provider unit is designed to compare theoutput of the navigation units. This redundancy increases the safety ofthe vehicle system.

The same advantage is achieved by the exemplary embodiment in which onenavigation unit is fixedly connected to the vehicle and another one is amobile navigation unit.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which comprises an update module by means of whichmap updates can be loaded and stored separately from the existing map.In this way, several digital maps are available as a basis forcomparison with the output of the surroundings and/or vehicle sensors.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, the vehiclesystem is designed to compare the existing map and the map update withthe output of the vehicle and/or surroundings sensors, checking them forplausibility, and uses the map which coincides more with the output ofthe vehicle and/or surroundings sensors. This exemplary embodiment hasthe advantage that the verification of the map updates enables a complexadvance quality assurance process to be shortened or even be completelyomitted. As a result, map updates can be loaded more quickly and delaysdue to quality assurance required beforehand can be dramatically reducedwithout reducing the quality of the map or the applications relyingthereon.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which is designed such that the existing map extractcan be overwritten with the updated map extract from the update moduleif the updated map extract coincides more with the output of the vehicleand/or surroundings sensors. This ensures that the existing map is notoverwritten with undue haste and would thus no longer be available.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided whose ADAS horizon provider produces the ADAS horizonon the basis of traffic and/or town signs and/or traffic laneinformation. In this way, the vehicle or, more precisely, the providerunit can provide the ADAS horizon in a stand-alone manner.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which further comprises an ADAS horizonreconstruction module designed to receive data from the ADAS horizonprovider, which ADAS horizon reconstruction module comprises a furtherinterface by means of which it can receive output of at least oneelement from the group consisting of a surroundings sensor, a vehiclesensor, a traffic reporting sensor or a telematics sensor andincorporate it in the reconstruction of the ADAS horizon. If additionalinformation is used within the ADAS horizon reconstruction module,dynamic data can be taken into account which is not taken into accountor cannot be taken into account by the ADAS horizon provider which isoften included in the separate navigation system. Since the data isalready incorporated in the ADAS horizon reconstruction module, the ADASapplication need not be changed any more, so that this dynamic data isavailable to all systems which are connected downstream of the ADAShorizon reconstruction module.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which comprises at least one surroundings sensor,vehicle sensor and/or traffic telematics receiver; and an ADAS horizonprovider which produces an ADAS horizon for driver assistance, relying,at least temporarily, exclusively on the surroundings sensor, thevehicle sensor and/or the traffic telematics receiver. In this way, thevehicle can produce an ADAS horizon without navigation signals from anavigation satellite, thus being able to produce an ADAS horizon andtransmit it to a driver assistance system in an independent manner evenduring a dead time, failure or absence of a navigation device. Thisexemplary embodiment can be combined with the other exemplaryembodiments described in the present summary in order to achieve theadvantages which are mentioned in the relevant passages.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which comprises a positioning module for determininga current vehicle position; an ADAS horizon provider which provides anADAS horizon for driver assistance, and a provider unit which includesthe positioning module and the ADAS horizon provider, wherein theprovider unit can be coupled to communicate with a mobile navigationunit which not fixedly connected to the vehicle. Mobile navigationdevices have the advantage that they can also be used outside thevehicle: for hiking, in private planes and boats. In addition, suchnavigation devices can be exchanged quickly and without problems in caseof technical innovations. If such a mobile navigation device is used inthe vehicle, these advantages can be combined with the advantages ofmore precise position determination described earlier herein. Thisexemplary embodiment can be combined with the other exemplaryembodiments described in the present summary in order to achieve theadvantages which are mentioned in the relevant passages.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which comprises an update module by means of which amap update can be loaded; a version memory in which the map update canbe stored separately from an existing map; at least one vehicle sensor,surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematics receiver; and a map updateprovider designed to compare the map update with the output of thevehicle sensor, surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematics receiverand check it for plausibility. This exemplary embodiment has theadvantage that the verification of the map updates enables a complexadvance quality assurance process to be shortened or even be completelyomitted. As a result, map updates can be loaded more quickly and delaysdue to quality assurance required beforehand can be dramatically reducedwithout reducing the quality of the map or the applications relyingthereon. This exemplary embodiment can be combined with the otherexemplary embodiments described in the present summary in order toachieve the advantages which are mentioned in the relevant passages.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which comprises an ADAS horizon provider whichprovides an ADAS horizon for driver assistance, and an ADAS horizonreconstruction module designed to receive data from the ADAS horizonprovider, wherein said ADAS horizon reconstruction module comprises afurther interface by means of which it can receive output of at leastone element from the group consisting of a surroundings sensor, avehicle sensor, a traffic reporting sensor or a telematics sensor, andmodifies the ADAS horizon on the basis of this output. If additionalinformation is used within the ADAS horizon reconstruction module,dynamic data can be taken into account which is not taken into accountor cannot be taken into account by the ADAS horizon provider which isoften included in the separate navigation system. Since the data isalready incorporated in the ADAS horizon reconstruction module, the ADASapplication need not be changed any more, so that this dynamic data isavailable to all systems which are connected downstream of the ADAShorizon reconstruction module. This exemplary embodiment can be combinedwith the other exemplary embodiments described in the present summary inorder to achieve the advantages which are mentioned in the relevantpassages.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a vehiclesystem is provided which comprises a provider unit comprising an ADAShorizon provider which provides an ADAS horizon for driver assistance;at least one vehicle sensor, surroundings sensor and/or traffictelematics receiver; wherein the provider unit can be coupled tocommunicate with a navigation unit to receive an ADAS horizon andwherein the ADAS horizon provider is adapted to use the output of thevehicle sensor, surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematics receiveras a basis to modify the ADAS horizon which can be received by theprovider unit. This has the advantage that the provider unit included inthe vehicle provides an ADAS horizon by means of the ADAS horizonprovider of its own in each case. If this vehicle system is coupled to a(mobile) navigation system which can also provide an ADAS horizon of itsown, this connection to the provider unit improves the ADAS horizon ofthe navigation unit thanks to the downstream ADAS horizon provider ofthe provider unit, specifically to the incorporation of the surroundingsand/or vehicle sensors and/or the traffic telematics receiver whichis/are mounted in the vehicle.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a method for controlling avehicle system is provided which comprises the steps of: determining acurrent vehicle position on the basis of the output of a satellitesignal sensor and at least one vehicle sensor, surroundings sensorand/or traffic telematics receiver, and providing an ADAS horizon bymeans of an ADAS horizon provider for driver assistance, wherein theADAS horizon is provided at a rate exceeding that of the output of thesatellite signal sensor.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a method for controlling avehicle system is provided in which an ADAS horizon is produced relying,at least temporarily, exclusively on a vehicle sensor, the surroundingssensor and/or the traffic telematics receiver.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a method for controlling avehicle system for map verification is provided which comprises thesteps of: loading a map update in an update module; storing the mapupdate in a version memory separately from an existing map, andcomparing the map update with the output of at least one vehicle sensor,surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematics receiver and checking itfor plausibility.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a method for controlling avehicle system is provided which comprises the steps of: providing anADAS horizon for driver assistance, and loading the output of at leastone element from the group consisting of a surroundings sensor, avehicle sensor, a traffic reporting sensor or a telematics sensor in anADAS horizon reconstruction module designed to receive data from theADAS horizon provider, and modifying the ADAS horizon on the basis ofthe information loaded in the ADAS horizon reconstruction module.

If the above exemplary embodiments relating to methods are used, theadvantages menin connection with the relevant devices can also beachieved by means of these methods.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a programelement is provided which instructs a processor to carry out the stepsmentioned above if it is executed on the processor of a vehicle system.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the invention, acomputer-readable medium is provided on which a program element isstored which instructs a processor to carry out the steps mentionedabove if it is executed on a processor.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described withreference to the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle which is equipped with the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a first exemplary embodiment of the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a second exemplary embodiment of the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a third exemplary embodiment of the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a fifth exemplary embodiment of the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention; and

FIG. 6 shows a sixth exemplary embodiment of the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a vehicle 10 which is equipped with the vehicle system 11(or 111, 211) according to aspects of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a first exemplary embodiment of the vehicle system 11according to aspects of the invention. The vehicle system 11 comprises anavigation unit 12, a provider unit 13, sensors 14, a satellite signalsensor 15, and a driver assistance system 16 (ADAS=Advanced DriverAssistance System).

The navigation unit 12 includes a map memory 17 in which a (complete)digital map or road map is stored. Updates of the digital map or of mapextracts thereof are also stored in this map memory 17. The navigationunit 12 receives a current vehicle position from a positioning module 18of the provider unit 13. As an alternative or in addition, thenavigation unit 12 may comprise a satellite signal sensor of its ownwhich serves to receive signals of the GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Compass orIRNSS navigation satellite systems. The position determined by thepositioning module 18 is transmitted to a map matching module of thenavigation unit 12. Here, the position from the positioning module 18 isused for map matching, i.e. the digital map which is stored in the mapmemory 17 is matched with the current vehicle position. To compensatefor measuring inaccuracies, the measured position can be matched to themap information relating to the position and geometry of objects in themap in the map matching module 19, so that, for example, the currentvehicle position which has been determined is corrected to be on and notbeside a road. Furthermore, the navigation unit 12 includes a navigationmodule 20 and a route computing module 21 both of which can access thedigital map in the map memory 17 as well as the map matching function ofthe map matching module 19. In the navigation module 20, a route to adesired destination is determined and displayed in a map. The route isdetermined by a route computing module 21. The two modules 20 and 21provide navigation for a driver, i.e. their functions are those usuallyassociated with navigation systems. The navigation module 21 serves asan interface to the driver (e.g. output such as “turn left after 200 m”or “please turn around). The route computing module 21 determines theroute to the desired destination according to instructions entered bythe driver (e.g. fastest route, shortest route, etc.). The routedetermined in this way is supplied to an ADAS horizon provider 22 of theprovider unit 13. The map matching result of the map matching module 19,the route determined by the route computing module 21 and the digitalmap of the map memory 17 are used as a basis by a map extract module 23to supply an extract from the map showing the current surroundings ofthe vehicle 10 to the provider unit 13. This map extract is supplied tothe ADAS horizon provider 22 within the provider unit 13. The navigationunit 12 is an independent device which is connected to the provider unit13 by means of a fast connection. This connection can also be used bythe map memory 17 to receive the updates for the digital map from theprovider unit 13. Thanks to this connection to the provider unit 13 andthe associated transmission of map updates as well as the currentvehicle position, the navigation unit 12 need not be connected to avehicle bus 24 (see FIG. 1); instead, the provider unit 13 is connectedto the vehicle bus 24 in order to receive data from vehicle sensors 39,surroundings sensors 40, traffic telematics receivers, etc. which arealso connected to the vehicle bus 24.

The provider unit 13 includes a map update provider 25, a map cachememory 26, a dynamics module 27, a local map memory 28, a map matchingmodule 29, and, as already mentioned, the positioning module 18 and theADAS horizon provider 22. The dynamics module 27 detects all dynamicdata and updates relating to the digital map and/or the ADAS horizon,such as e.g. traffic congestion data, new road courses, data fromtelematics services (e.g. C2X=Car-to-X Communication, but also RDS/TMC,etc.), in particular traffic telematics services. The dynamics module 27receives this data by means of transmission systems such as, forexample, the Radio Data System (RDS), the Real Time Traffic Informationsystem (RTTI), the General Package-oriented Radio Service (GPRS) or UMTS(Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), DSRC (Dedicated ShortRange Communication) according to IEEE802.11p, etc. This dynamic data isdirectly supplied to the map update provider 25 and the local map module28 and is thus available to the other units too. The map update provider25 checks the dynamic data for authenticity and changes the relevant mapextracts which are stored in the map memory 17 or the local map module28 or overwrites the relevant map extracts available so far with the mapextracts which have been newly loaded. In addition, it serves for theintermediate storage of updates for the digital map, regardless ofwhether updates are to be made in the navigation unit 12 or not. The mapcache memory 26 receives a map extract from the map extract module 23and forwards it to the local map module 28 where this map extract can beadapted according to the dynamic data, if required. The local map module28 forwards the digital map relating to the surroundings of the vehicle10 to the ADAS horizon provider 22. In addition, the relevant mapextract is subjected to matching in the map matching module 29 which isarranged between the local map module 28 and the ADAS horizon provider22. The map matching module 29 adapts the local map on the basis of datasupplied by the sensors 14 and the positioning module 18. The mapmatching process carried out by the map matching module 29 is separatefrom the map matching process carried out in the navigation unit 12 andis limited to the map extract which has been supplied. In addition, thedynamic information is taken into account here.

The positioning module 18 relies on the sensors 14 and the satellitesignal sensor 15 to determine the current vehicle position, and forwardsit to the map matching modules 19 and 29. The satellite signal sensor 15can be integrated in the provider unit 13 or be arranged separately andconnected to the provider unit 13 for data exchange. The satellitesignal sensor 15 can, for example, receive signals of the GPS, Galileo,GLONASS, Compass or IRNSS navigation satellite systems. The sensors 14comprise vehicle sensors, surroundings sensors or traffic telematicsreceivers for receiving traffic telematics services (C2X) which supplyposition and surroundings information, preferably by means ofvehicle-to-vehicle communication or vehicle-to-infrastructurecommunication. The term “vehicle sensor” used in this descriptioncomprises sensors such as, for example, travel distance sensors, speedsensors, steering wheel angle sensors, wheel rotational speed sensors39, yaw rate sensors, etc., i.e. the vehicle sensors are sensors whichdetect a state of the vehicle or vehicle parts; in particular, thevehicle sensors detect a state of motion of the vehicle. Thesurroundings sensors are sensors such as, for example, cameras 40, aradar, LiDAR sensors or ultrasonic sensors, etc., i.e. surroundingssensors are sensors which detect the surroundings of the vehicle,wherein the surroundings sensors are mounted on the vehicle and detectobjects in the vehicle's surroundings in a stand-alone-manner, i.e.without information signals from outside. The traffic telematicsreceivers mentioned here preferably communicate via an automotive WLANaccording to the IEEE 802.11p standard, by means of vehicle-to-vehiclecommunication, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, RDS, TMC, RTTI,GPRS, UMTS or DSRC. This communication relates to position information,surroundings information relevant to the vehicle (e.g. objectinformation, traffic lane or route information, traffic flowinformation), route information or traffic flow information (the twolatter also outside the vehicle's surroundings). In this way, forexample, the information which is detected by the surroundings sensor ofa vehicle travelling in front can be transmitted to following vehiclesby means of vehicle-to-vehicle communication. In general and in additionto the position information, the sensors 14 also supply information(e.g. object information or route information such as traffic laneinformation) which can be used for map matching purposes; the sensors 14are therefore directly coupled to the map matching module 29 too. Themap matching process has, however, less priority than positiondetermination by the positioning module 18.

The ADAS horizon provider 22 receives a map extract from the navigationunit 12 or, more precisely, the map extract module 23, via the local mapmodule 28 and the map matching module 29. This map extract covers thecurrent surroundings of the vehicle 10 during a specified period of timeof, for example, T seconds or longer. In addition, the route computingmodule 21 transmits the currently selected route to the ADAS horizonprovider 22. The aforesaid map extract, the current route and theposition received from the positioning module 18 (via the map matchingmodule 29) are the basis to produce an ADAS horizon. The ADAS horizon isa horizon of expectations relating to the further course of roads andtraffic and on the basis of which a driver assistance system assists adriver in driving. The provider unit 12 or, more precisely, the ADAShorizon provider 22 can provide updates of the ADAS horizon at a rateexceeding the output rate of the satellite signal sensor 15 (GPS rate)since model-based or model-assisted position determination is used inthe positioning module 18 which uses the output of several of thedifferent sensors 14 and 15 to compute the current vehicle position.This computation can be done independently from the update rate of therelevant sensors (e.g. by means of a Kalman filter) and the updates ofthe ADAS horizon can therefore be provided at update rates which are nottriggered by a sensor 14, 15. If satellite and vehicle sensor signalsare fused with surroundings sensor data and traffic telematicsinformation in the provider unit 13, the accuracy of the ADAS horizoncan be increased. During said fusion, traffic lane information receivedfrom a surroundings camera can be used, for example, to obtain a moreaccurate position of the vehicle on the road, thus improving theaccuracy, reliability, quality and up-to-date status of the ADAS horizonand ensuring safer provision of the ADAS horizon.

Furthermore, during the map matching process in the map matching module29, a surroundings camera can, for example, detect that there are onlytwo traffic lanes available (e.g. due to an accident) although thereshould be three traffic lanes according to the map material. Thisinformation can be directly used as an input parameter for producing theADAS horizon. In addition, a sign detection feature may serve toidentify the type of a traffic sign or even to read the name of aplace/town/city on signposts/town signs, thus enabling the map matchingmodule 29 to match the signs included in the map with those which arepresent in reality. Also, information provided by a radar can be used toestimate the further course of the traffic lane and match thisinformation with the map information. This approach ensures that theADAS horizon reflects the currently valid road situation instead of theroad situation at a time when the map data was recorded.

The ADAS horizon provided by the ADAS horizon provider 22 is transmittedto the driver assistance system 16 which includes an ADAS horizonreconstruction module 30 which uses the ADAS horizon which is preferablytransmitted to the driver assistance system 16 in compressed form toreconstruct the ADAS horizon. The ADAS horizon reconstruction module 30acts as a link between the ADAS horizon provider 22 and the ADASapplications. The provider unit 13 which has been described thuscomprises communication units (see dynamics module 27) for communicationwith the outside world (Wifi, GSM/UMTS/ . . . , C2X, etc.) or interfacesto one or more communication units, the satellite signal sensor 15 orinterfaces to said sensor, a connection to the vehicle bus 24, thepositioning module 18 and the ADAS horizon provider 22, ideally withinone unit. Furthermore, the provider unit 13 also includes an eCallmodule 31 which automatically alarms emergency services in case of anemergency. Since an automated emergency call (eCall) requires positiondetermination, it is advantageous if the positioning module 18 and theeCall module are included in the same unit.

The division of this exemplary embodiment in the navigation unit 12 andthe provider unit 13 having the functionalities described above ensuresthat the driver assistance system 16 (or other vehicle systems or ADASapplications) receive an ADAS horizon even if the navigation unit 12 (oran infotainment unit with an integrated navigation unit) is notavailable or fails for a short while. Thanks to the aforesaid division,the navigation unit 12 can be designed using lower safety standards andcan thus be equipped with new functions more quickly, which is importantin terms of infotainment. This focus on functionality is called“feature-driven”. In contrast, the provider unit 13 is designed to meethigher safety standards, which is necessary for driver assistancesystems; this focus is called “safety-driven”. The aforesaid divisiontherefore reduces the probability that the ADAS horizon will not beavailable, compared to a solution which is exclusively based on anavigation unit, since the provider unit 12 can be designed according tohigher safety standards. Another advantage of this division is that thedata rate can be kept more constant in this way since the provider unit13 is designed according to higher safety standards and does notcomprise a user interface, thus eliminating a source of disturbance forcomputation (reaction to user input). The transfer of the sensor fusionfeature to the provider unit 13 as a central place ensures that allvehicle systems receive the same ADAS horizon and that said horizon isalways the best one possible.

In the exemplary embodiment described above, the navigation unit 12, theprovider unit 13, the sensors 14, the satellite signal sensor 15 and thedriver assistance system 16 are integrated in the vehicle 10. It is,however, also possible that the navigation unit 12 be arranged outsidethe vehicle 10 and the provider unit 13 communicates wirelessly with thenavigation unit 12; the navigation unit 12 is then transferred to aserver outside the vehicle, for example. In this way, it is alsopossible to produce the ADAS horizon on the basis of off-boardnavigation only.

According to a modification of this first exemplary embodiment, anadditional fusion unit may be provided which is located outside theprovider unit and carries out a comprehensive sensor fusion which can becorroborated by the map data. According to this modification, the ADAShorizon provider can also be transferred to the fusion unit. The othermodules which are included in the provider unit 13 continue to belocated in the provider unit 13 in this modification.

FIG. 3 shows a second exemplary embodiment of the vehicle system 111according to aspects of the invention. The use of digital maps or mapdata in an existing driver assistance system requires a (navigation)module which is integrated in the vehicle. Many drivers, however, use amobile navigation device since these devices cost less, can be exchangedeasily and can thus be improved during the vehicle's service life.

This is the start point of the present exemplary embodiment. The firstexemplary embodiment has already proposed an architecture whichtemporarily stores a map extract and/or uses sensors to ensure thatdriver assistance systems still receive map information if thenavigation unit fails or does not react for a short while. The presentexemplary embodiment now expands this basic idea to include a connectionto mobile units.

The vehicle system 111 comprises a mobile navigation unit 112, aprovider unit 113, sensors 114 and a driver assistance system 116(ADAS=Advanced Driver Assistance System).

The navigation unit 112 includes a map memory 117 in which a digital mapor road map is stored. The navigation unit 112 receives a currentvehicle position from a positioning module 118 of the provider unit 113.In addition, the navigation unit 112 may comprise a satellite signalsensor of its own by means of which, for example, signals of the GPS,Galileo, GLONASS, Compass or IRNSS navigation satellite systems can bereceived. The position determined by the positioning module 118 istransmitted to a map matching module 119 of the navigation unit 112which carries out a map matching process, as does the map matchingmodule 19. Furthermore, the navigation unit 112 includes a navigationmodule 120 and a route computing module 121, which correspond to thedescription of the respective modules 12, 20 and 21 of the firstexemplary embodiment. The route produced by the route computing module121 is supplied to an ADAS horizon provider 122 of the provider unit112. The provider unit 113 is supplied by a map extract module 123 withan extract from the map showing the current surroundings of the vehicle.This map extract is supplied to the ADAS horizon provider 122 within theprovider unit 113. The navigation unit 112 is an independent, mobiledevice (or another mobile device including digital maps or a navigationfunction) and is connected to the provider unit 113 (or the vehicle) bymeans of wireless (e.g. Bluetooth, WLAN) or wired (e.g. USB)communication technology. Instead of a mobile navigation device, asmartphone including a suitable navigation function or navigationsoftware or similar systems can also be used for the mobile navigationunit 112.

The provider unit 113 comprises a map cache memory 126, a map matchingmodule 129, and, as already mentioned, the positioning module 118 andthe ADAS horizon provider 122. The provider unit 113 is connected to thevehicle bus 24 in order to receive data from the sensors 114, such as,for example, vehicle sensors 39, surroundings sensors 40, traffictelematics receivers, etc. The provider unit 113 is preferably locatedin the vehicle 10 and is not a part of the mobile navigation device. Themap cache memory 126 receives a map extract from the map extract module123. The map cache memory 126 forwards the digital map relating to thevehicle's surroundings to the ADAS horizon provider 122. In addition,the map matching module 129, which is arranged between the map matchingmodule 129 and the ADAS horizon provider 122, subjects said map extractto a matching process. The map matching module 129 modifies the localmap using data received from the sensors 114 and the positioning module118. The map matching process carried out in the map matching module 129is separate from the map matching process carried out in the navigationunit 112 and is limited to the map extract which has been supplied. Themap extract can be transmitted from the map extract module 123 to theprovider unit 113 or, more precisely, the map cache memory 126, in sucha manner that information relating to the immediate surroundings of thevehicle 10 is transmitted first, followed by information relating to thewider surroundings. Analogously, those parts of the map which are likelyto be travelled (e.g. main roads) are transmitted first, followed by theparts which are less likely, etc. The map extract is selected such thatit covers the current surroundings of the vehicle 10 for a period oftime of T seconds or longer. This ensures that, even in case of failureof the connection or of the navigation unit 112, map data will beavailable long enough to send a warning to the driver, if required, andto adapt the functionality of the provider unit 113 and the driverassistance system 116 during a transition time in such a manner that amap is no longer needed.

The positioning module 118 relies on the sensors 114 to determine thecurrent vehicle position, and forwards it to the map matching modules119 and 129. The sensors 114 comprise vehicle sensors (such as, forexample, travel distance sensors, speed sensors, steering wheel anglesensors, wheel rotational speed sensors, yaw rate sensors, etc.),surroundings sensors (such as, for example, cameras, a radar, etc.) ortraffic telematics receivers (C2X). Furthermore, the sensors 114comprise a satellite signal sensor which serves, for example, to receivesignals of the GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Compass or IRNSS navigationsatellite systems. As an alternative, the satellite signal sensor canalso be integrated in the provider unit 113. In addition to the positioninformation, the sensors 114 also supply information (e.g. objectinformation) which can be used for map matching purposes; the sensors114 are therefore directly coupled to the map matching module 129 too.

The ADAS horizon provider 122 receives a map extract from the navigationunit 112 or, more precisely, the map extract module 123 via the mapcache memory 126 and the map matching module 129. This information isused to produce an ADAS horizon, as described in the first embodiment,which is made available to the driver assistance system 116. In otherwords, a map matching process is carried out in the provider unit 113 onthe basis of the map extract, the position supplied by the positioningmodule 118 and the route (if any) supplied by the route computing module121, and an ADAS horizon is produced on the basis of said process.

This division has the advantages which have already been described inconnection with the first embodiment and will not be repeated here.

If the mobile navigation unit 112 or the mobile navigation device isconnected to the provider unit 113 as described above, the positionsignals determined by the positioning module 118 are also transmitted bythe provider unit 113 (i.e. from the vehicle) to the mobile navigationunit 112. These position signals enable the mobile navigation device toprovide a better navigation than would be possible without saidconnection to the provider unit 113 (or the vehicle 10) since thepositioning module 118 does not use satellite signals only, as is commonwith navigation devices, but in addition relies on the vehicle andsurroundings sensors mentioned above for position determination. If themobile navigation device 112 has access to additional positioninformation sources which are not available in the vehicle 10 (e.g. viacommunication links), this information can be used to improve theposition which has been determined, for example during the map matchingprocess in the map matching module 119.

All blocks or modules of the provider unit 113 need not be physicallyrealized in the same control device. Analogously, the sensors 114 can berealized separately from each other. It is also possible that anadditional provider unit be located in the mobile navigation device 112and transmits an additional ADAS horizon to the vehicle 10 (see sixthexemplary embodiment). As a result, there is a further redundancy forthe computation of the ADAS horizon, and transmission errors (e.g. ofthe map extract or the ADAS horizon) can be detected if the ADAS horizondoes not match the map extract.

If a navigation device is installed in the vehicle 10 in addition to thenavigation unit 112 described above, the information supplied by theinstalled navigation device might be complemented by data from themobile navigation unit 112 in case this information is not available inthe installed device. In addition, a comparison of the map extractssupplied by the installed navigation device and the mobile navigationunit 112 can be made in this way, thus detecting errors in the mapmaterial. This redundancy of the information leads to increased safety,compared to just one map source.

Furthermore, the mobile navigation device 112 might not compute the ADAShorizon itself, but send the position to a server for computation of theADAS horizon which is then transmitted to the mobile navigation device112 which, in turn, forwards it to the vehicle 10.

To ensure that the map data is safe and reliable, they are authenticatedusing cryptographic methods. For this purpose, a vehicle manufacturermay, for example, specify a code which must be used to encode and/orcertify the data to make the vehicle 10 or the provider unit 113 acceptit. If the map data is not authenticated, the data can nevertheless beused in certain circumstances provided they have been confirmed by the(surroundings) sensor data for a pre-defined period of time. Thisensures that the mobile navigation devices conform to a certain qualitystandard since they will otherwise not receive a code from the vehiclemanufacturer.

If two or more different mobile navigation devices are connected (e.g. aPNA (Portable Navigation Assistant)/mobile navigation system) and amobile phone having a navigation function, the information or positionand navigation output of these devices can be compared. In this way, thereliability of the information can be better assessed and availabilitycan be improved.

According to a modification of the second exemplary embodiment, thenavigation unit 112 is a server which is located outside the vehicle 10and assumes the function of the navigation unit 112 described above.This is a so-called off-board navigation where data is received from theserver via an air interface. Such an off-board navigation can be usedinstead of a mobile navigation device or both system types can be mixedor used in parallel.

The second exemplary embodiment can be combined with the methods for useof dynamic data and map updates described in connection with the firstexemplary embodiment.

This second exemplary embodiment enables mobile navigation devices orother mobile devices including digital maps and/or navigationcapabilities to be used as the basis for an ADAS horizon for driverassistance systems. The cryptographic verification of the map dataensures that the map data conforms to a certain quality standard andonly verified map data can be used.

A third exemplary embodiment will now be described, which is a furtherdevelopment of the previous exemplary embodiments, in particular of thefirst exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a third exemplary embodiment of the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention.

Only those elements are described with reference to FIG. 4 which are notincluded in FIG. 2. All other aspects are identical to the descriptionrelating to FIG. 2.

If an update is loaded in a map update provider 225 via an update module232 for a digital map according to this exemplary embodiment, thisupdate is stored in a version manager 233 of the map update provider 225in parallel to the existing map, so that one or more update versions areaccessible in the version memory 233 in addition to the existing map inthe map memory 17 or the map cache memory 26. If the vehicle 10 is movedin an area which is concerned by one or more of the updates stored inthe version memory 233, one or all of the updates which are relevant tothis area is/are compared to the output of the sensors 14, preferablythe surroundings sensors, and it is checked whether the attributes arecorrect, i.e. whether the output of the sensors 14 coincides with theupdates. In this way, video sensors can be used to verify traffic signs,for example. The course of the road can be verified using the mapmatching function implemented in the map update provider 225. This mapmatching process can be carried out using the current vehicle positiondetermined by the positioning module 18, in addition to the sensors 14.In addition to the updates, the existing map in the map cache memory 26as well as the update can be checked for plausibility. If the result ofthe map matching process is that the current traffic situation or thecurrent course of the road coincides more with a road of the existingmap, this map is used. This means the new map extract which is selectedfrom among several available map extracts from the map cache memory 26and the relevant updates is that one which coincides most with theoutput of the sensors 14 and/or the positioning module 18. Once thischeck has been made, the map is used which matches reality more closelyin each case. This map is also marked as “up to date” and used asstandard. The other versions of the map extract are not deleted,however, until the “up-to-date” version of the map extract has beenconfirmed a larger number of times.

If the vehicle is to be navigated through an area in which map updateshave not yet been confirmed, there is a user option to select which mapis to be used, i.e. whether the newest version should always be used ora verified version should always be used or whether all versions are tobe used and a route is selected which leads to the desired destinationin all cases.

The map updates which have been subjected to the quality assuranceprocess described above are correspondingly marked and provided with astatus and/or time stamp which indicates when the map data was verified.According to this embodiment, these map updates can be used as up todate versions immediately, and all older version, i.e. prior to the timestamp, be deleted.

This exemplary embodiment has the advantage that the verification of themap updates enables a complex advance quality assurance process to beshortened or even be completely omitted. As a result, map updates can beloaded more quickly and delays due to quality assurance requiredbeforehand can be dramatically reduced without reducing the quality ofthe map or the applications relying thereon.

A fourth exemplary embodiment will now be described which can becombined, as a whole or in part, with the exemplary embodimentsdescribed above.

In connection with the first embodiment, a detailed description has beenmade of the fusion of sensor data, in particular the fusion ofnavigation satellite signals with vehicle and/or surroundings sensorsand traffic telematics receivers, which enables the quality and accuracyof position determination to be increased and a dead time of anavigation device or a navigation satellite signal sensor to be bridged.

With the approach described in this exemplary embodiment, the vehiclesystem can even produce the ADAS horizon without any navigation deviceand map basis at all. In this case, this exemplary embodiment isdescribed with reference to FIG. 2.

In this exemplary embodiment, the map matching module 29 is designed insuch a manner that it can supply the necessary input parameters to theADAS horizon provider 22 even if no digital map is available. This meansif there is a digital map, as described in the first exemplaryembodiment, the method described below can be used to corroborate themap data or achieve a redundancy for this data, for example to detectand be able to correct errors. This fusion leads to better availabilityand quality of the ADAS horizon and to a redundancy for the ADAS horizonon the basis of digital maps, thus increasing availability and safetysince the fusion of both sources enables an improved ADAS horizon to beachieved, as has already been explained above in connection with thefirst exemplary embodiment.

This fourth exemplary embodiment goes a step further, still supplying anADAS horizon even if no digital map and/or navigation satellite signalis/are available, either temporarily or permanently. In this case, themap matching module 29 is designed to supply the input parametersrequired to produce the ADAS horizon using the sensors 14, in particularthe surroundings sensors, as the only basis.

For this purpose, this exemplary embodiment enables a representation ofthe surroundings to be obtained by means of surroundings sensors. Videosensors can identify the traffic lane and traffic signs, radar or LiDARor ultrasonic sensors supply data relating to vehicles or generalobjects in the surroundings, etc. This data can be used to make aprediction relating to the lane (or the road).

In addition, vehicle sensors such as, for example, a steering wheelangle sensor, wheel rotational speed sensor, yaw rate sensor, etc. canbe used to corroborate, interpolate or extrapolate, by means of avehicle model, the information supplied by the surroundings sensors 14.This data detected by the sensors 14 are then used as input parametersto produce an ADAS horizon on the basis of this data. This ADAS horizoncan be used to replace a map-based ADAS horizon if no digital map isavailable in the vehicle 10.

The ADAS horizon which is produced in this manner can also be suppliedto the navigation unit 12 or the navigation module 20 if the currentsurroundings are not included in the map data of the navigation unit 12.This surroundings-sensor-based data can thus also be used as the basisfor navigation or suppress erroneous navigation information.

FIG. 5 shows a fifth exemplary embodiment of the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention. This exemplary embodiment can becombined with the exemplary embodiments described above.

As described above, digital maps are converted to an ADAS horizon inorder to use said maps in the driver assistance system. The ADAS horizonprovider 322 transmits a virtual ADAS horizon to connected devices bymeans of a sequential update via a CAN bus 334 or another vehicle bus;in said devices, the ADAS horizon reconstruction module 330 combinessaid updates to form a virtual horizon, as shown in FIG. 5.

All information relating to the characteristics of the virtual horizonor ADAS horizon must be available in the ADAS horizon provider 322 withthis approach. Additional information which is not available to saidprovider cannot be added until the ADAS application 335 level isreached.

According to this fifth exemplary embodiment, existing additionalinformation which is useful for the virtual horizon is integrated in thevirtual horizon in the ADAS horizon reconstruction module 330 and madeavailable via the ADAS application program interface (API, ApplicationProgram Interface) or the ADAS horizon reconstruction module 330. Saidintegration preferably takes place in the area of a data store manager336, a horizon data store 337 and a position extrapolator 338. In theseplaces, additional information for adaptation or modification of theADAS horizon can be taken into account. The modules of the data storemanager 336, the horizon data store 337 and the position extrapolator338 correspond to the current system definition of the ADASIS forum. Ifthis system information is changed or another system structure is used,integration takes place in other suitable places of the ADAS horizonreconstruction module.

For example, a surroundings sensor can detect the additional objectswhich are present on the road as well as the distance of said objectsfrom the vehicle and their speed. In the current ADASIS architecture,this information is preferably integrated in the data store manager 336.

In addition, a sensor can detect surroundings information relating tothe road condition. For example, an electronic braking system can detecta low friction value during a braking process. Wetness can be detectedby means of a rain sensor or a windscreen wiper which has beenactivated. A potentially icy road surface can be deduced from thecombination of a temperature about the freezing point and passing of abridge, etc.

Furthermore, information relating to traffic congestions, blocked roads,etc. can be obtained using a traffic message channel (TMC) or real timetraffic information (RTTI) and taken into account in the area of thedata store manager 336 when processing the ADAS horizon.

Moreover, a telematics service can be used to obtain additionalinformation relating to the traffic flow and additional informationrelating to some or all points of information (POI), which can then betaken into account in the area of the data store manager 336 duringmodification of the ADAS horizon.

As an alternative, the output of the surroundings sensors is used toassess the traffic flow. In this connection, it is possible, forexample, to use radar to deduce that there is a traffic queue from thefact that the distance between the vehicles is small while, at the sametime, the travelling speed is low. Furthermore, the traffic flowdetected by the surroundings sensors can be used to predict the suitablespeed of the driver's own vehicle 10.

If additional information is used within the ADAS horizon reconstructionmodule 330, dynamic data can be taken into account which is not orcannot be taken into account by the ADAS horizon provider 322 which isoften included in the separate navigation system. Since the data isalready incorporated in the ADAS horizon reconstruction module 330, nochange has to be made in the ADAS application 335, so that this dynamicdata will be available to all systems which are connected downstream ofthe ADAS horizon reconstruction module.

FIG. 6 shows a sixth exemplary embodiment of the vehicle systemaccording to aspects of the invention. This exemplary embodiment can becombined with the preceding exemplary embodiments. To avoid repetitions,only those aspects differing from the preceding exemplary embodimentswill be described.

In this exemplary embodiment, the navigation unit 12 is provided with anadditional ADAS horizon provider 440 of its own which provides an ADAShorizon on the basis of the map data stored in the navigation unit 12and the current vehicle position supplied by the navigation unit 12. Thenavigation unit 12 forwards this ADAS horizon to the provider unit 13.The provider unit 13 includes an ADAS horizon reconstruction module 441which receives the ADAS horizon from the ADAS horizon provider 440,processes (e.g. decompresses) it as required, and forwards it to theADAS horizon provider 22 which is included in the provider unit 13.Moreover, the ADAS horizon provider separately receives the output ofthe sensors 14 and possibly also of the satellite signal receiver 15. Ifthe navigation unit 12 supplies an ADAS horizon, this ADAS horizon ismodified, i.e. improved, on the basis of the output of the sensors 14,15 and is subsequently output to the ADAS horizon reconstruction module30 of the driver assistance system 16. The other elements of thepreceding exemplary embodiments are not shown in FIG. 6 and notmentioned here for reasons of clarity, but it is explicitly stated thatthese elements may be provided in the suitable places and only thoseelements which are provided in addition thereto are described in thisexemplary embodiment, i.e. that, for example, the map cache memory 26,the local map module 28, the map matching module 29 and the map updateprovider 25, etc. can be included between the ADAS horizon provider 440and the ADAS horizon provider 22, in addition to the ADAS horizonreconstruction module.

It is explicitly stated that features which have been described withreference to one of the above exemplary embodiments or the above furtherdevelopments can also be combined with features of other exemplaryembodiments or further developments described above.

The applicant expressly reserves the right to use the features definedin the device claims as the basis for method features formulated in ananalogous manner.

What is claimed:
 1. A vehicle system located in a vehicle for mapverification comprising: an update module located in the vehicle bywhich a map update can be loaded; a version memory located in thevehicle in which the map update can be stored separately from anexisting map which is stored in another memory device; at least onevehicle sensor, surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematics receiverlocated in the vehicle; a map update provider configured to compare themap update received from a third party with an output of the at leastone vehicle sensor, surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematicsreceiver and check the map update for plausibility; wherein, when themap update is determined to be plausible based on the comparison, thevehicle system uses the map update for map matching a position of thevehicle; and wherein the existing map extract is overwritten with theupdated map extract from the update module if the updated map extracthas a higher degree of coincidence with an output of the at least onevehicle sensor, surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematics receiver.2. A vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle systemreleases the map for use which coincides more with the output of the atleast one vehicle sensor, surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematicsreceiver.
 3. A method for controlling a vehicle system located in avehicle for map verification, comprising the steps of: loading a mapupdate received from a third party in an update module; storing the mapupdate in a version memory separately from an existing map which isstored in another memory device; comparing the map update received fromthe third party with an output of at least one vehicle sensor,surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematics receiver and checking themap update for plausibility; wherein, when the map update is determinedto be plausible based on the comparison, the vehicle system uses the mapupdate for map matching a position of the vehicle; and wherein theexisting map extract is overwritten with the updated map extract fromthe update module if the updated map extract has a higher degree ofcoincidence with an output of the at least one vehicle sensor,surroundings sensor and/or traffic telematics receiver.